Vestcor Inc Decreases Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,655 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $6,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $104.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.84. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $110.19. The company has a market capitalization of $33.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.